Will I have any problems with my citizenship?

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del0175

Registered Users (C)
I received my green card more than 3 years ago and I am married to an American citizen - in other words, after doing my research I know I am eligible to apply now.

The problem is the story of my green card. My employer applied concurrently (I-140/I-485) for my green card in April 2003. After my I-140 was approved but before the I-485 could be approved (though it was pending for more than 180 days), I was laid off due to bad times for the company. They kept me on the payroll till April 2004. In the meantime I did a few jobs here and there in the same field but on November 1, 2004, I got my green card approval letter. I got the stamp a few days later and the actual card arrived a few weeks later. A lawyer that I consulted told me that I really could not tell the USCIS that I wanted to refuse the green card even though my wife was ready to sponsor me for a family based green card.

I continue to work in the same area and have a perfectly clean record - not even a traffic ticket. I meet all the requirements for citizenship.

Can anyone kindly tell me if applying for citizenship will open a can of worms and jeopardize my wonderful, peaceful life as a permanent resident? Or should I simply go ahead and apply?
 
First, if your green card is based on employment I dont think you can apply with the 3 year USC marriage rule (please correct me if im wrong).

You have to wait 5 years or 4 years 9months after you were granted permanent residence.
 
I think she can apply, even if the green card was obtained through employment, what I also want to make clear is that she needs to have been married to the U.S. citizen for full 3 years before being able to benefit from this 3 year rule. So, let's say the GC was obtained Nov 2004, but the marriage happened on Nov 2005, then the poster should wait until Nov 2008 to apply. If on the other hand the poster was married to the U.S. citizen prior to obtaining the GC (it doesn't seem the case from the context of the message) then the poster could apply up to 90 days before 3 years after obtaining the GC. Again, the important thing is that the poster has to be married 3 full years to the U.S. citizen before using the 3 year continuous residence rule. I hope it makes sense. I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, and all other applicable disclaimers :)
 
The "minus 90 days" doesn't matter in this case, because it is already after November 1, 2007. So it's just a matter of whether the 3-year rule applies instead of the 5-year rule.
 
Huracan is right

Huracan said:
I think she can apply, even if the green card was obtained through employment, what I also want to make clear is that she needs to have been married to the U.S. citizen for full 3 years before being able to benefit from this 3 year rule. So, let's say the GC was obtained Nov 2004, but the marriage happened on Nov 2005, then the poster should wait until Nov 2008 to apply. If on the other hand the poster was married to the U.S. citizen prior to obtaining the GC (it doesn't seem the case from the context of the message) then the poster could apply up to 90 days before 3 years after obtaining the GC. Again, the important thing is that the poster has to be married 3 full years to the U.S. citizen before using the 3 year continuous residence rule. I hope it makes sense. I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, and all other applicable disclaimers :)
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Huracan is 100% right without any doubt. I have a friend, who got his green card thru his employment but when he got married to US citizen, and after staying with her for 3 good years he was able to apply for his citizenship.
 
Thanks for pointing this out. I had noticed it. I mentioned the 90 days rule in case someone in the future stumbles upon this thread and wants to get a whole picture on how to apply this scenario, but yes, I noticed that the approval came on Nov 1st, so it is already past 3 full years. Good point :)

I don't think an IO is going to make a fuss about the lay-off and everything, considering that the poster is now married to a U.S. citizen. I would think the chances of success are excellent. Furthermore it would seem that the lay off happened more than 6 months after submitting I-485 so it is in the AC-21 gray area, which usually turns in favor of the applicant. All said and done I think the poster has a very good chance of success. Again, this is my personal opinion. I'm just trying to put myself in the poster's shoes and evaluate the risks to the best of my ability, and the way the case has been told it seems the risk is low.

Thanks Atlanta Brother for your endorsement of my previous reply.

My 2 cents.

Jackolantern said:
The "minus 90 days" doesn't matter in this case, because it is already after November 1, 2007. So it's just a matter of whether the 3-year rule applies instead of the 5-year rule.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you all for your insights. Just to clarify, I have been married to my wife for six years and she has been a citizen for over 3 years. I think I have done my due diligence and I know I am eligible to apply. My concern has been that due to the not-so-straightforward way in which I got my green card, I do not want to open a can of worms.
 
I may have read it wrong, but did you say you got laid off while in the Green Card process but still continued to work at other jobs? If this is the case the IO might actually ask you if you have ever worked illegally in the US and that might become an issue.

If not, then yes your GC would be based on marriage and you would be able to apply. I'm just curious about working after being laid off (and before you got married), or am I just reading that wrong?
 
Hi warlord,

Considering that del0175 has always done his due diligence ;) I would assume he had an EAD that authorized him to work. However, if del0175 didn't do his due diligence about having an EAD this could become an issue, and is good that you point it out. His case is not that different from many others that were laid off and found other jobs and then obtained the approval of the GC. Yes, sometimes the IO asks questions, but I don't recall reading any bad outcomes.
 
You would hope they had their EAD, but I have heard some people who ended up working under the table after they had been laid off (without their EAD yet) and that can be a problem if encountered in the interview. I'm just curious since the lawyer said something about not mentioning something to the IO. Almost makes me think it might be an under the table situation. Guess we'll have to wait for a clarrification...
 
any updates?

Any updates?

Did they ask questions about GC sponsor / layoff / employment after GC?
 
Response to warlord and bob94102. Yes, of course, I had an EAD all along and obviously that made my work legal all along.
 
A related update.

I have still not filed my naturalization application but did consult with an attorney. According to him, since my application was already over 180 days I was allowed to switch jobs and now I should simply state the name of the new company in my citizenship application. Under AC21 it is fine to switch employers.

According to him, at the time of naturalization, the INS also does not really investigate these minor issues unless they suspect outright fraud.
 
I have a same question. I got laid off just less than 4 weeks before my I-485 was approved and I received the green card, but I got severance pay for one month including vacation pay. Also, few days after I got laid off, I went to the university to continue my education/training to improve for the next job while I was searching for a job. I got a job 4 or 5 months after I got laid off. I have the GC-sponsoring company letter stating that they intended to employ me but due to the business crisis (business downturn), they had to lay me off.

Will it be a problem at the N-400 interview which begins on June 12? I applied using 5-years rule.

I was told that it won't be an issue because it is not relevant to 5-year rule and it is only a very tiny issue. I was told that IO does not care about that. All IO cares about is good moral character, name check, background check, updating any information on N-400, and exams as it is just formalities. In this forum, I haven't found any "interview" issue relating to this.
 
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Sorry, but I think this is a completely dumb question.

If your company sponsors you and they lay you off and you get your GC, than that's it.
Noone can predict that your company will be in business for ever and part of GC is to have stability in your life, unlike H1B.

If USCIS would be THAT concerned about issuing greencards to those that might have been laid off, they would contact the sponsor before approving/sending it out.

This is a non issue.
 
yeah, that's what I thought.

Thanks. I agree with you that it is not an issue. then, I guess it is just formalities. Good luck to me on my June 12 interview. :)
 
MartinAub said:
Sorry, but I think this is a completely dumb question.

If your company sponsors you and they lay you off and you get your GC, than that's it.
Noone can predict that your company will be in business for ever and part of GC is to have stability in your life, unlike H1B.

If USCIS would be THAT concerned about issuing greencards to those that might have been laid off, they would contact the sponsor before approving/sending it out.
Click to expand...

An EB GC is issued on the basis of a future job offer that is expected to be available once the LPR is approved. Whether or not you work for the sponsor prior to approval is immaterial, technically its what you do afterwards that matters to USCIS.

The complicating factor is of course AC21 law, which makes it perfectly acceptable to change employers (under the 180day rule) so long as the new job is in a similar field with similar title & responsibilities. Presumably as a result of that, USCIS no longer seems interested in delving into employment details, so long as the applicant has a reasonable explanations for their actions.

The end result is the same, this specific case is a non-issue, but its far from a dumb question.
 
Indeed, I was a little offended by the "dumb" categorization but in a way it was a relief that what I was asking was not an issue it seems. As boatbod and MartinAub explained, it is clear that the USCIS wants to make sure that people gainfully contribute to the US economy and society but what employer they work for is relatively less important. It seems that in most cases (including mine) the employer wanted to hire the applicant and the applicant intended to work there but the downturn in business creates all sorts of complications. I loved my job so much that I envisioned working there for a very long time but the business environment changed and the company had to layoff a lot of people.
 
Naturalization after being laid off by sponsor before green card and using AC21

As you will read at the beginning of this thread, I became eligible to apply for naturalization in November 2007 but was in a dilemma due to conflicting information on the web from attorneys and immigrants whether it was fine to leave the sponsor before the GC was approved.

After spending a few months researching this topic (unfortunately there is only limited information on people using AC21 -- American Competitiveness Act -- and then becoming naturalized, even though it is perfectly legal to do what I did) and speaking to an attorney in person and another online, I decided to apply in June 2008. This morning my application was approved.

While all cases are unique, my case should provide encouragement to those in my situation. I did work for my sponsor for good 3 years on H-1 and then through the GC process but due to business downturn I was laid off after 180 days of pending I-140/485. In the mess after layoff, I did not technically inform USCIS and simply started working for another employer.

In the interview this morning, the wonderful/professional USCIS officer merely confirmed my two employers on the N-400 in the same tone as she confirmed everything else like name and address. Change of employers at the time of GC did not even come up.

This is not meant to be legal advice but my case may be helpful to those who are in a situation somewhat similar to mine. Apart from that, I have been a perfect immigrant in every sense of the word and married to a US citizen. My case was also approved in just about 4 months. Proud to be an American!
 
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